AUS vs ENG: I'm Not Going To Please Everyone - Pat Cummins On Critics Of His Captaincy

Australia skipper Pat Cummins opened up about the criticism he has been facing for his leadership in the ongoing Ashes 2023. He said that he cannot please everyone as in his two years of captaincy he has learned to have a thick skin. 

Australia has retained the Ashes but Pat Cummins’ place in the team as a leader has also come under scrutiny. The visitors ticked the right boxes in the first two games but after that things didn’t go their way as they lost Headingley Test. 

Australia were dominated by England in Manchester and skipper Pat Cummins looked clueless. But thanks to the rain that forced a draw and helped the visitors retain the Ashes. England was a sure shot to win the game and when opposition batters in particular Zak Crawley were taking Australian bowlers to the cleaners, Pat Cummins looked didn’t have any plans. 

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Pat Cummins looked under a lot of pressure and following his poor show, former cricketer Darren Berry said that the pacer would step down after the series gets over. Even head coach Andrew McDonald admitted that they applied poor tactics. 

Pat Cummins while talking about the fifth Test of the series, said that criticism related to his captaincy has made his teammates laugh. He remarked that everyone is entitled to his opinion and it doesn’t bother him.

Speaking to reporters, he said: “It’s something we speak a lot of as a group: A calm environment. That’s off the field but on the field as well. It probably wasn’t our best day in terms of that. And that’s my fault, no one else’s. It’s tough. You’re out there, the wicket’s a flat wicket, the batters are batting well, it’s played at a different pace to pretty much any Test cricket before. 

“A few things have come across my desk from the boys having a laugh. I’ve been in this job two years now and you learn pretty quickly you’ve got to have a thick skin. I’m not going to please everyone and everyone’s got opinions. But they aren’t facts, they’re opinions,” he added.

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AUS vs ENG: The biggest asset we have is the experience of the group – Pat Cummins 

Pat Cummins has been staggering as a leader so far. Australia is yet to lose a series under him as he has won 11 Tests as a leader and has lost only four games. He feels that he’s getting better with each game and has a lot left in him.

He explained: “I feel like with each game I’m getting better. There’s a fair bit more left in me. The biggest asset we have is the experience of the group and that’s not going to be around forever. We’re very individualised in how we let everyone be themselves and do it their way.

“Some of that’s down to the fact that we’ve got guys that have played 100 Test matches, or 15 years of first-class cricket. If there’s new guys in, maybe you need to shift that (approach) a little bit. It’s exciting, that’s what I like about the job,” he said.

Australia would be going into the fifth Test with a lead of 2-1. They haven’t won a series in England since 2001 and would be eyeing to do that when the fifth Test begins on 27th July at The Oval in London.

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